Friday, December 18, 2009

Take this healthcare plan or else !!

December 18, 2009

Caution: This newsletter may be a bit opinionated. But then again, people do pay me for my opinions, so here goes!!

Take this healthcare plan or else?

It seems that every day I watch the news, healthcare reform gets sicker and sicker. And now it appears that our elected officials think they know more about healthcare than doctors and patient's. The one thing our elected officials in both parties do know is how to spend money they do not have. And unfortunately, all this borrowed to be spent money will eventually be paid back on the backs of our children and grandchildren. This is just not right!!

Healthcare reform is supposed to bring down costs for everyone without raising taxes. The present Senate bill does not.

Healthcare reform is supposed to bring insurance to the majority of the 47 million temporarily uninsured. The present Senate bill does not.

Healthcare reform is supposed to bend the cost curve down. The present Senate bill does not. Especially when we get taxed for 2-3 years before any reforms start.

What does the Healthcare reform bill do?

It cuts Medicare. So for everyone on Medicare who has paid into the system for the past 20-40 years, tough luck!

It penalizes young healthy individuals who choose to take a risk and not purchase health insurance.

It will also raise the premiums on younger individuals to help subsidize others.

It creates multiple new bureaucracies that will put barriers between you and your doctor.

Now for the scariest part.

When the government puts their power and weight, otherwise known as coercion, into the healthcare system, they do so by telling doctors not only what to do, but what not to do. Health insurers try to do this, and they have partially succeeded. They coerce, also known as twist the arms of doctors to perform tests that may not be necessary, or use medications and treatments that may not work, usually on the basis of possible cost savings. Why would the insurers do this? That answer is simple and closes the loop on the problems with our helathcare system. Insurers are trying to stay in the good grace of Uncle Sam and the bureaucrats who think they know better. The only thing worse than a health insurer telling a doctor what to do, is a government bureacrat doing the same.

So who is left out and forgetten in this government-insurance dominated system?

I'll answer that. You, the patient are left out as you become a number, a statistic, a covered life!

I may be rambling a bit here, but I get very offended when anyone other than my patient tries to tell me how to do my job. When I founded The Institute For Medical Wellness, I went out on a limb professionally. It was my personal and professional risk and I chose to go full steam ahead with a health delivery concept that focuses on individuals, not insurances, and not government bureaucracies. When you are in my office, my attention is focused on you. So a healthcare bill that gives broad powers to the government to decide what care is and is not necessary is an extremely scary proposition. I fear that your care will suffer if you are forced into a government controlled system.

I do not expect everyone to feel the way I do. And I respect all points of view, especially those I do not agree with. I learn alot every day, from hearing how others view their health, what they are eating, how they are exercising, what works for their individual ailments and what does not. I have learned from my 15 years in practice that no two individuals are the same. So any healthcare plan that focuses on numbers and populations as opposed to individuals will never, ever have my support!

I want reform. But I want reform that gives patient's more choices in their healthcare, not less. I want reform that allows patient's and doctor's to decide what is needed for their care, without a 2000+ page federal healthcare bill getting in the way. I want a plan where everyone has access to healthcare not governed and controlled by Uncle Sam.

The Institute For Medical Wellness will thrive and expand regardless of healthcare reform because we focus our care on individuals and families, period. We have no ulterior motives, no insurance quotas in the back of our mind guiding our treatment. We will grow as more people are dissatisfied with the direction of government sponsored healthcare. But I would prefer that The Institute For Medical Wellness grows due to our outstanding care and committment to everyone who chooses us for their healthcare.

My promise to you. No matter what comes out of Washington, D.C., The Institute For Medical Wellness will continue to be where you can go for healthcare that is focused solely on you!

I will end with the mission statement that I wrote back in 2007, while putting the wheels in motion for the founding of The Institute For Medical Wellness. This mission statement describes how I want to be treated when I access medical care, and it is how I will always care for you!